Tuesday, 30 December 2014

The Atrium at Crown Towers Hotel in Southbank, Melbourne, puts on a Festive Season show every year. This year, the atrium has a spectacular animatronic, lighting and musical display every 30 minutes.

Included is a15 metre 24-hour fully lit Christmas tree, giant Christmas baubles suspended from the ceiling, while Jumbo-sized ornaments at eye level pop open to reveal all of Santa's friends and the merry old gentleman himself. All of this to the strains of well-known carols of the Season.

It is kitsch deluxe, but the kids (and many adults!) thrive on it and all of the shows seem to be very well-attended. Just keep the kiddies well away from the pokie machines in the casino...

Friday, 26 December 2014

The Temple of Concordia (Greek: Harmonia), built c.440-430 BC, is an ancient Greek temple of the ancient city of Akragas, located in the Valle dei Templi in Agrigento. This temple, constructed like the nearby Temple of Juno on a solid base designed to overcome the unevenness of the rocky terrain, is considered one of the most notable examples of Ancient Greek architecture on account of its state of preservation.

The very well-preserved peristasis of six by thirteen columns stands on top of a crepidoma of four steps (measuring 39.44 metres x 16.91 meters). The columns are 6.72 metres high and carved with twenty flutes and harmonious entasis (tapering at the tops of the columns and swelling around the middles). The peristasis is surmounted by an architrave, a frieze of triglyphs and metopes, and a cornice. The tympana are also preserved in situ.

The naos, preceded by a pronaos in antis (mirrored by the opisthodomos), is entered through a step. The front walls of the naos, with integrated steps to the roof are preserved, as are the sockets for the wooden beams of the roof on the top of the walls of the naos and in the blocks of the entablature of the peristasis. The exterior and interior of the temple was decorated with polychrome stucco. The sima at the edges of the roof formed a gutter with lion protomes and the roof was covered in marble tiles.

The temple's transformation into a Christian church involved the removal of the ancient ornamentation, the demolition of the back wall of the naos, the closure of the space between the columns, and the creation of twelve curved openings in the walls of the naos in order to create the canonical three naves - the two lateral naves from the peristasis and the central nave from the naos. The classical altar was destroyed at that time and sacristies arranged in the corners, the whole building almost completely taking on the form of a basilica. Digging occurred inside and outside the church in relation to a High Medieval sepulchre, placed in close contact with the basilica in accordance with custom.

Thursday, 25 December 2014

Anigozanthos is a small genus of Australian plants in the Bloodwort family Haemodoraceae. The 11 species and several subspecies are commonly known as kangaroo paw and catspaw depending on the shape of their flowers. A further species, previously identified as Anigozanthos fuliginosus and commonly known as the black kangaroo paw, has been transferred to its own monotypic genus and is now known as Macropidia fuliginosa.

The genus was first named by Jacques Labillardière in his work, Relation du Voyage à la Recherche de la Pérouse, issued in 1800. The French botanist collected and described the type species, Anigozanthus rufus, during the d'Entrecasteaux expedition's visit to Southwest Australia in 1792. In recent years a number of numerous hybrids and cultivars have been developed. Kangaroo paws are much in demand as house plants and as cut flowers.

These perennials are endemic to dry sandy, siliceous areas of southwest Australia, but they occur as well in a variety of other environments and soil types. They are grown commercially in Australia, the United States, Japan and Israel. The plant grows from short, underground, horizontal rhizomes. The length and the character of these may vary between the species: some are fleshy, others are fragile. The sap in the root system allows the plants to survive extreme dry spells. In summer, a number of species die back to the rhizome, growing back in autumn.

The tuberous flower buds are covered with coloured hairs, giving them a velvety aspect. These long furry hairs also determine the colour of the flower, which may range from almost black to yellow, orange and red. Some species are even dichromatic (as Anigozanthos manglesii). The tubular form of the flower bud resembles a kangaroo paw, hence its name. The flower tip spreads fanlike into six petals. Full-grown plants can have up to ten flowers at the end of each stalk.

Monday, 22 December 2014

These architectural face decorations are part of a row of Victorian shop/dwellings in Collingwood, an inner Melbourne suburb and were built in the prosperous late nineteenth century. I have taken some liberties with Photoshop...

Sunday, 21 December 2014

Mustafapaşa is a town in Nevşehir Province, Cappadocia, Turkey. The population of Mustafapaşa was 1550 as of 2011. The former name of Mustafapaşa during the Ottoman Empire era was Sinasos. It had a mixed population. Greeks and Karamanlides (Turkish speaking Christians), which constituted the majority of the population (≈3,000), and Muslim Turks who constituted the rest (≈500).

Although situated far from the seas Sinasiotes (Greeks from Sinasos) who temporarily migrated to İstanbul, were known to be the traders of seafood and especially caviar. The small town had many splendid, opulent mansions due to the wealth derived from the İstanbul trade.

In 1924, however, as a result of the population exchange agreement between Greece and Turkey, Greeks and Karamanlides left the town for Nea Sinasos a town in the northern part of the island of Euboea in Greece. They were replaced by Bulgarian Muslims and Turks from Kastoria, a town in northern Greece. During the exchange years the town lost its former prosperity.

In its heyday, Sinasos had nearly 30 churches in the town and 30 in its vicinity. One of the two public churches, the one carved in rock and dedicated to the Archangels Michael and Gabriel was destroyed in the beginning of the 20th century without any evidence suggesting its former existence. The second public church “Church of Constantine and Helena” in the town centre has been preserved and I ams haring with you some photos we took when we visited in June 2007.

The church is structurally sound, but its decorative features, frescoes, religious images and Christian carvings have been removed, as has the large iconostasis and icons that graced the holy of holies. The municipality of Mustafapaşa has started the restoration of the church and to this end many Greeks of Cappadocian origin are assisting in this project.

Saturday, 20 December 2014

The view towards the East on the Yarra River in the City of Melbourne. Queens Bridge, a historic road bridge can be seen. The bridge was built in 1889 and has five wrought iron plate girder spans, and is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register. The bridge was built by contractor David Munro, and replaced a timber footbridge built in 1860.